News

AES Is A-1 In NYC

New York City (October 10-13, 2003)--Every year, the Audio Engineering Society Convention (AES) attracts the best and brightest, creating an event that has something for everyone working in pro audio. There are exhibitors to visit, new tools to see, papers and workshops to attend, tech tours to check out, fellow audio pros with which to network, and lots more. This year also marks the debut of many new features, like exhibitor and tutorial seminars, and yesterday's "Surround Live" event.

There are 365 exhibitors to see on the floor, each presenting their latest and greatest wares, but there's more to the show than just the newest gear. Zoe Thrall, convention chair and general manager of The Hit Factory, is excited about the new additions to AES' events. "We've got a few workshops that we've never done before involving Sound for Broadway and Sound for Sports Facilties," she said. "Also, for the first time at a U.S. AES convention, we're introducing exhibitor seminars, which allow manufacturers to showcase their products with a bit more detail to end-users in a smaller, quieter environment. They went over well in Amsterdam, and that's why we're trying them here."

One of today's highlights is the keynote address by legendary producer Arif Mardin during the opening ceremonies, held in Hall 1E at 11:30 a.m. Also of note are tech tours to the Ed Sullivan Theatre (home of The Late Show with David Letterman) and Sync Sound Recording Studio. Some of the numerous special events held today include the 15th Annual Grammy Recording Soundtable panel, "Rebuilding New York Broadcasting," and the AES Mixer to close out the day.

Kicking off the brand-new offering of tutorial seminars at AES are "Microphone Techniques for Stereo and Surround," "The Basics of Digital Audio: A Seminar with Demonstrations," "Powered Loudspeakers" and "Grounding and Shielding." Meanwhile, an assortment of high-profile papers and workshops are also offered today, covering topics like "Audio for Games," "Low Bit-Rate Audio Coding," "High-Resolution Audio" and "Posters: Acoustics and Sound Reproduction." In short, there's so much going on that four days seems hardly enough to encompass the variety of offerings here at the convention.

--Clive Young

AES
www.aes.org